Remembering Her
by Fallon Monroe
Summary: A soft, sweet sound cut through the darkness. Her voice piercing him, her soft, gentle tone echoed in his ears. The need to find her, to emerge from the inky blackness that seemed to hold him prisoner overwhelmed him, instinctively he reached out for her.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Sadly I own nothing.**

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><p>It was dark. He couldn't see, couldn't talk. An annoying, high pitched beeping sounded steadily, endlessly. The occasional word washed over him, jumbled and irrelevant, his mind unable to focus on what was being said. He couldn't move, it was as if he were frozen, held still by an invisible presence.<p>

A wave of cinnamon and pine assaulted his nose; the strangely familiar scent was calming. A soft, sweet sound seemed to cut through the darkness. The gentle murmur was comforting, the kind, warm words washing over him soothingly. The low hum was undistinguishable and yet, vaguely familiar, as though he knew its owner. Her musical voice, for he instinctively knew the speaker to be a woman, seemed to call out to him, beckoning him to her through the eternal darkness. Her voice piercing him, her soft, gentle tone echoed in his ears; the jumbled hum evened out, beginning to take shape, though exactly what she said was lost in the empty abyss. The need to find her, to emerge from the inky blackness that seemed to hold him prisoner overwhelmed him; instinctively he reached out for her.

Warmth spread through his fingers as they curled around something soft. A startled gasp escaped the woman's lips. His hand swamped her smaller, more delicate one, the pads of his fingers taking in the every contour before the smooth, warm flesh was ripped from his; his hand instantly cooling as her presence disappeared, the faint scent of cinnamon and pine lingering in the air. He cried out, panic-stricken at her absence, though no sound escaped his lips. Moments later the sound of voices reached his ears though in is panic he did not recognize hers.

Struggling, he blindly fought to emerge from the black abyss; the terrifying, irrational need to find her was all consuming. Blinking, the darkness faded into a bright, blinding white that stung his eyes. Disoriented he fought to stand, wobbling on his feet he stumbled through the doors and out of the unnaturally white, sterile area. Unconsciously, his feet guided him through the trees, following a path his mind could not remember. His legs were shaky, the uneven ground of the forest floor only making it so much harder to walk straight. His determination to find her, to find the soft-spoken woman who smelled sweetly of cinnamon and pine, whose voice was soothing and touch was so very familiar, kept him going. His attention solely focused on finding her, he did not see the rock until it was too late. His foot caught, sending him crashing to the ground.

His hands reached out, as if to brace himself, but in his fall his body twisted, his head meeting the ground with a resounding thud. Darkness swam before his eyes, closing in and taking with it the surrounding trees, his mouth slipping beneath the stream's surface. This time, however, the dark abyss wasn't just entrapping, it was almost hostile; the icy cold settled in his chest, the though of not finding her, of never being able to see her face and to look into what he knew would be familiar eyes burned far colder than the numbering water ever could.

"Come back to me." Her soft, musical voice once again cut through the darkness. Something inside him clicked. She was here, the thought rang out in his mind elatedly, she had found him. Her words pulled at him, tugging him through the dark abyss. He was aware of her and only her, nothing else existed. And then something was against his lips; like fire it burned him, forcing away the bone chilling numbness. The scent of cinnamon and pine flooded his sense overwhelmingly; the faint, subtle traces that followed in her wake seemed stronger in her closeness. His chest constricted, a cough forced itself from his mouth as he began to choke on water. Sputtering, the water dispelled from his lungs in one big heave. He gasped for breath, his lungs expanding as he breathed in deeply. "You saved me." He murmured hoarsely, his eyes meeting hers. "Thank you."

"Who are you?" She questioned breathlessly. Confusion filled his mind. _Who are you? _Her words echoed about his head like an endless loop. She didn't know him. But she had to; she was so painstakingly familiar that it hurt his head trying to figure out how. Why she seemed so familiar he couldn't say, but he knew her, he had to; even before he had seen her he had instinctively recognized her, but now looking into her warm hazel eyes he was sure of it. Her eyes, like her voice, were soft, filled with compassion and kindness. They gazed down at him, seemingly to stare straight through his eyes, of what color he could not remember, and into his very soul. For some unknown reason, he had a feeling they had done so before, countless times.

"I don't know." he murmured honestly. And he didn't know, he couldn't remember his name or anything else about himself for that matter. But he remembered her, he had been so certain that she would know, that she held all the answers to his questions, and yet, she didn't know him.

"It's okay," She whispered back reassuringly as if sensing his internal distress, "it'll be okay."

And for some reason, he believed her.

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><p>Firstly, I'd like to thank IzzeeKatt for reading this fic and catching grammatical errors.<p>

And secondly, to all of you who took the time to read this, I thank you. This the very first fanfic I have written, and while I've been a member for quite sometime, I've not been able to write anything until now. So...Review! As I said this is my very first fanfic and any feedback would be helpful. Positive feedback would be nice. If you liked it, tell me so. Reviews of that nature boost confidence, they let writers know their work wasn't complete crap and with that assurance they tend to write more. Flames, while not something I would particularly like, are welcome. However, if you're going to flame at least tell me why. Just saying it sucked, or I didn't like it won't help anyone, because if I don't know what's wrong with it then how can I correct my mistakes?


	2. Chapter 2

Sirens blared, but he barely heard them. His attention was on her, on the woman who smelled faintly of cinnamon and pine; his savior. He had forced his way out of the sterile room- whatever it was supposed to be, and on unsteady feet, into the forest. He had no idea why his feet led him through the trees to that very stream; his only though had been to find her, that he had to- no, _needed _to find her. And in some strange twist of fate it had been her who had found him. He wasn't sure, but it felt odd; why the turn of events struck him as strange, he couldn't quite remember. If he was to be honest with himself, he didn't remember much of anything.

He remembered the darkness; it was impossible to forget. In the blackness he had been alone, completely isolated from the outside world, trapped inside his mind for who knows how long. For years he had been separated from human contact. Nothing could reach him. Occasionally the words of those nearby would wash over him, but they were distant and jumbled, unrecognizable through the fog that hovered around his mind. It was terrible, being prisoner to one's own mind, forever lost in an endless abyss. In the darkness time stood still, one eternal night, while the rest of the world moved forward. The feeling of being completely and utterly alone was something he wished he _could_ forget. But, it didn't matter, not anymore. All that mattered was that she was there, at the spot of which his feet had unwittingly guided him. He was no longer alone.

The next few moments were but a blur. Voices were everywhere; talking to and around him. Her warm, smiling face disappeared from his vision, replaced by the faces of two people he had never seen before. They were speaking calmly, telling him something he didn't bother, nor cared, to listen to. His mind was still set on her, and although he could not see her, he sensed her presence hovering silently nearby, her eyes trained on him, unwaveringly; this comforted him, knowing that she was there, that she hadn't left. The new faces lifted him up into a vehicle of sorts, and the last thing he saw before the doors were closed was her face, soft, reassuring; she promise him she would be right behind him, that they- whoever they were, would meet him there.

The time spent in the small, box-like structure felt endless, and finally when they opened the doors he was carted off, back to the unnaturally white room. A man was there- a doctor. The doctor hovered about, speaking lowly and pressed two fingers against his neck. _Where was she? She was supposed to be __**here**__._A feeling of annoyance bubbled up in him, directed not at her but towards the doctor. Seconds later the very doors he was brought through flew open. "David, David is that you?" a woman's voice rose above the hovering peoples' chatter.

A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair appeared in his line of vision. Her face filled with concern, a watery, shocked smile curled onto her lips. The doctor, whose name he had yet to learn spoke, "Excuse me ma'am? Ma'am you can't be in here. Please." Coming up behind her, the doctor placed his hands on her shoulders, guiding her away from his bed and across the room as he continued to speak, "You can't be in here right now. You can't be here ma'am. You need to leave here for a second."

His mind felt hazy, confusion swirling in his eyes. _Who was this woman? And more importantly, why was she calling him David? Was that his name? Did this woman know him?_ He wondered, question after question swirled in his mind. He racked his brain for information, for anything that might help him understand. It was blank, as blank as the dark abyss he had been trapped in, and it frightened him. He had no idea who he was; nothing, it was completely blank. His name, his entire life before the abyss was gone; the only thing he had to hold onto was the hauntingly familiar face of his savior, whose name he had yet to learn.

His name was David, David Nolan. Or so the blonde woman told him. And she, whose voice sounded like a high pitched whine, was his wife. Kathryn, was it? His _wife_; it felt strange thinking of her that way. He couldn't remember her. She was as foreign to him that the people hovering annoyingly by his bedside, who he could only assume prevented the dark haired woman from seeing him. Nothing about her seemed to click; there was nothing familiar about her. Her face, her voice, and even her very touch was alien. It was as if he had never met her, let alone _married_ her. The lavender that wafted about her was strong, almost overpoweringly so; it lodged in his nose and throat, and while it wasn't necessarily an unpleasant scent, it was a far cry from the cinnamon and pine.

Lost to his thoughts, he didn't see her move until her arms were around him. Awkwardly he wrapped an arm around her. Over her shoulder a dark haired figure caught his eye. His gaze immediately turned towards the door, and his breath caught in his chest. There she was, his painstakingly familiar rescuer. His eyes raked over her, taking in her every feature, something which he hadn't thought to do before. Her dark hair was cropped short, framing her face, even if it was too short to actually fall into it. It was cute, though he had a fleeting thought that long hair would suit her just as well. She was of about average height, possibly taller, with a slender, almost delicate looking figure. The blue of her sweater was bright against her pale skin.

All thoughts of Kathryn left his mind as her kind hazel eyes met his. There was a sadness that seemed to radiate from within which made his heart clench. Half-heartedly she quirked her lips into a quick smile, her eyes unwilling to leave his. After a long moment her eyes closed, her dark lashes brushing against her cheeks, breaking their connection. Her head tilted downward as he followed the path of her eyes with his, coming to a stop at her hands. They toyed with the simple, elegant ring that rested on her right middle finger, twisting it about almost absentmindedly.

_Was she married?_ A feeling of dread settled in his chest at the thought. The idea of the hazel eyed beauty being married hurt more than he cared to admit. What confused him though, was the contradictory feeling of relief; the sight of the ring, not just any ring but _that_ ring, brought about an emotion that felt almost like...joy? He couldn't understand it, why the sight of the expertly crafted band affected him as it did made no sense. But there was something….Something about the way the silver glinted in the light, the way it fit perfectly on her finger that struck him as familiar.

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><p>I'd like to thank all of you who reviewed, it was nice to know you liked it. I decided to continue with this, hopefully, this will be just as good as the first one or at least come close. Unfortunately this wasn't quite like the last one, but now that he's awake there wasn't much I could do about that. Depending on the kind of reviews I get, I may continue with this. It might be a while, considering I have to wait for Once Upon a Time to give me something to go off of.<p> 


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